Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-03-06

Complaints are made from various sec
tious of band Of baking powder tramps
whose tricks anon unsuspecting house
keepers seem to partake very much of the
nature of confidence operations. The
band is composed Of women, although
employed and directed by an agent Of the
other sex, and their methods OF proceed
ure, as explained by several ladies who
have been victimized, is as follows: o.
tanning access to the kitchen, they intro
duce the subject of baking powders,
inquire the kind used in the family.
Being shown the can, perhaps fresh,
full one, they volunteer to test"
is 20 ascertain its,saallties. Their "test"
consists il placing yAe can on hot stove
o. ever lamp or sSsa Jet, or in mixing
the baking powder 5ath water both hot
and cold. If the baEtEg powder is good
for anything the heat Will. Of, course, eX-
pei the gas, which, being 2mbaeniacal or
carbonic, is apparent to thesjsslse Of
smell. The claim is them made thss5tnis
odor indicates something detrimentaf-
although. as 4 matter of~fAc;, a baking
powder that would give on no gas when
subjected to he&t would be without
leavening power4gud valneless. They
VII also mix tlTsfbekitg powder gwen
t6ens with, watcF Ii pure, it
tefervesces quickly. 5Ebe baking powder
! they pednle being similarly mixed foams
up slowfsslIke yeast, Standing, perhaps,
over the top Of the glass. This they
claim as sstdeAce Of SUPERIORITY, whereas
it is the eSsshitfeR sef q brick only, their
baking powderhs yins been specially pre-
pared to make ttfsstest by the addition Of
-four, gum af albunisns 1t is sure evil
deuce of Gdalteration. OfScoGyse the OBJ
| iect OF thesctrsudulent tricks is to de-
! strOy confidence IN all other kinds OF
baking powtdr, and to sell the particular
br nd for which the women are travelling.
Were thistha Ehola of the operation,
| housekesFers Wegld not often be de-
ceived. sBvery intelligent person knows
that baking powdef2is mot made to be
used in this way, but in cooking where
IFS actionsis entirely Giftersnt from that
| produced by dry heat or ~ mixture with
water alone.. The chief object of this
| juggieTY il. to destroy the baking powder
gwen for testing; or by heating it
TO drive off its MaFsning gases, and so
weakenit that whenUsed it Will fail to
work. At Ihe next Baking there is heavy
food, OF canTSe, and tAaf"tramp" proba-
] UtN SSlS tbts f-'ult Oh '~uAN IbsS tOIu Vie
! hOusekeepcfa valuable fset, instead Of
] having spoilt her baking powder, as was
actually the case. The average "GGmp"
will, in this way, destroy from tilty to
/ seventy-tye pounds OF baking powder 3
/ day.
J A second method of spelling for use the
| baking powder in 0 kitchen where they
are not permitted to experiment with it.,
is by dexterously throwing in the can a
small quantity Of salt, soda or powdered
| lime. Again, should there chance to be no
/ baking powder in the house, the opera
tors will produce, of the kind used by the
| family, sample that has been parposely
adulterated or "doctored" to make such
an exhibit as they desire under the So
called test.
The only way to protect our food from
being contaminated by tramps of this
kind is to turn all persons who wish or
attempt TO tamper with it unCeremonious-
ly from the door, and to use those arti-
cles only which experience has proved
satisfactory, or the official tests have es-
tablished Gs pure and wholesome.